Minnesota Wild
Central Division, Western Conference · 20 reports in the 2022-23 edition.
This is the 2022-23 edition — an archived read, written from that season alone. Read the 2026-27 club page →
The club
2021-22 · 82 games · 233 for, 204 againstHow it played
- Shot attempts share, five-on-five
- 51.0% 11th of 32
- Expected goals share, five-on-five
- 53.7% 6th of 32
- Power play expected goals per sixty
- 7.09 17th of 32
- Penalty kill expected goals allowed per sixty
- 7.39 19th of 32
Where the record lies
- Finishing goals scored above what the chances were worth
- +49.1 1st of 32
- Goaltending goals prevented beyond what the chances allowed were worth
- -13.0 23rd of 32
Minnesota Wild scored 49.1 more goals than their chances were worth but got 13.0 fewer saves than the chances they faced warranted — the two pull against each other, and both regress.
Roster shape
Points-weighted, so these are the ages and origins of the production rather than of the sweaters.
- Average age
- 27.9
- weighted by points
- From 33 and up
- 16.1%
- of skater points
- From under 26
- 42.2%
- of skater points
- Homegrown
- 44.8%
- drafted by this club
- Continuity
- 70.5%
- of last season's five-on-five minutes
The read
the numbers, and the eyeA hundred and thirteen points off the best finishing in the league by a wide margin, the 16th-best chance creation, and the 20th-ranked power play.
Who this names 8 of 20 on the roster · 49% of their five-on-five minutes details
Both columns above are searched, and a name counts on the same terms the page links it: in full always, by surname only when one man in the edition wears it. Nothing here says who ought to be named — only who was, so the weighting can be seen rather than guessed at.
Not named here: Matt Boldy, Connor Dewar, Brandon Duhaime, Marc-Andre Fleury, Frederick Gaudreau, Alex Goligoski, Filip Gustavsson, Ryan Hartman, Tyson Jost, Jon Merrill, Jake Middleton, Sam Steel.
What the Quant Says
53-22-7, 113 points, 5th in the league. 310 goals for, 5th; 253 against, 18th.
And 1st in the league in finishing at plus-49.1 goals. Their five-on-five goals came in 208-150 against an expectation of 158.9-137 — forty-nine goals more than the shots they took were worth.
The process underneath is good and not extraordinary: 11th in attempt share at 51.0 per cent, 6th in chances at 53.7, 16th in expected goals per 60 at even strength. The defensive rate is the genuine strength — 2nd in the league in expected goals against per 60.
Goaltending rated 23rd at minus-13. The power play finished 20th.
This is the mirror image of the Los Angeles chapter in this same batch, and the two clubs sit at opposite ends of the same distribution: Minnesota first in finishing, Los Angeles thirty-second.
What the Scout Says
The pair file has two findings and both matter.
Mats Zuccarello took 56.3 per cent of the chances beside Kirill Kaprizov across 1,617 attempts, and 39.7 per cent across the 270 without him. Kaprizov alone read 51.8. The sample apart is small; the size of the gap is not.
Jonas Brodin read 60.3 per cent away from Mathew Dumba across 976 attempts, and 53.2 with him across 1,386. Dumba away from Brodin read 47.5. Every forward on the club posted their best figure with Brodin behind them — Foligno 61.8, Greenway 61.2, Eriksson Ek 60.5 — and Dumba was the only Minnesota regular whose ice was outscored.
Jordan Greenway is the third case: 46.4 per cent of the chances away from Marcus Foligno and 58.7 with him, while Foligno held 57.5 alone.
Underneath all of it, the club's real drivers are Kaprizov, Brodin, Spurgeon and Eriksson Ek, and the record credits about a dozen other men with results those four produced.
The roster
No measured season behind two of them: Marc-Andre Fleury and Filip Gustavsson. Their pages carry an older stat line and a judgment, and nothing from 2021-22.
Matt Boldy
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.LW · Minnesota Wild
Thirty-nine points in forty-seven rookie games, at the 22nd-slowest top speed of the 365 forwards the league tracks.
Jonas Brodin
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.D · Minnesota Wild
Twenty-three and a half minutes a night, the 6th-percentile hit rate, and 60.3 per cent of the chances when Mathew Dumba was on the bench.
Connor Dewar
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing, only 332 five-on-five minutes. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.C · Minnesota Wild
Thirty-five games at 9:54, a 5-10 third-round centre, and 55.1 per cent of the chances in the smallest role on the club.
Brandon Duhaime
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.RW · Minnesota Wild
The 8th-most hits, the 3rd-most penalties taken, and the 5th-worst penalty ledger of the 393 qualified forwards.
Mathew Dumba
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.D · Minnesota Wild
The least ground covered of all 192 qualified defencemen, the 12th-hardest shot, and 47.5 per cent of the chances away from Jonas Brodin.
Joel Eriksson Ek
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.C · Minnesota Wild
The 3rd-fewest giveaways of 393 forwards, 2:09 a night on the kill, and 57.6 per cent of the expected goals with him on the ice.
Marc-Andre Fleury
Evidence behind this report: No record. No five-on-five record — Fleury did not play a measured season. Everything on the page is an older line and a judgment.G · Minnesota Wild
The most career games, wins and shutouts of the 72 goaltenders in this book — 939, 520 and 71 — and a .9082 at 37.
Marcus Foligno
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.LW · Minnesota Wild
The highest shooting percentage of all 393 qualified forwards — 23.5 per cent — off the 33rd-fewest shots per 60.
Frederick Gaudreau
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.C · Minnesota Wild
Undrafted, forty-four points after eighteen in his first hundred games, and the 13th-fewest penalties taken of 393 forwards.
Alex Goligoski
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.D · Minnesota Wild
A plus-41 at 37 — tied third among all defencemen — and the fewest takeaways of the 202 who qualify.
Jordan Greenway
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.LW · Minnesota Wild
Six-foot-six, the 39th-most hits per 60 of 393 forwards, and 46.4 per cent of the chances when Marcus Foligno was not out there.
Filip Gustavsson
Evidence behind this report: No record. No five-on-five record — Gustavsson did not play a measured season. Everything on the page is an older line and a judgment.G · Minnesota Wild
Twenty-seven NHL games across two seasons at .9331 and .8920 — a sample too small to read, arriving as the tandem’s other half.
Ryan Hartman
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.RW · Minnesota Wild
Thirty-four goals from a man whose previous best was nineteen, off the 45th-least ground covered of 365 forwards.
Tyson Jost
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.C · Minnesota Wild
Tenth overall in 2016, 109 points in 342 games, and the 16th-best penalty ledger of 393 forwards.
Kirill Kaprizov
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.LW · Minnesota Wild
A hundred and eight points in his second season, the 6th-best even-strength rate of 393 forwards, and the 3rd-best penalty ledger in hockey.
Jon Merrill
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.D · Minnesota Wild
Twenty points with none on the power play, the 2nd-percentile ground covered, and sixteen goals of finishing above the model on his ice.
Jake Middleton
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.D · Minnesota Wild
A seventh-round pick playing 18:41 a night, with the 18th-most blocks and the 14th-most penalties taken of 202 defencemen.
Jared Spurgeon
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.D · Minnesota Wild
Five-foot-nine and 166 pounds, a sixth-round pick, 772 games — and the fewest giveaways of all 202 qualified defencemen.
Sam Steel
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.C · Minnesota Wild
A first-round pick with 65 points in 197 games and the 13th-percentile chance share, arriving from Anaheim.
Mats Zuccarello
Evidence behind this report: Light. Thinner than most: part of the record is missing. The page is honest about what it has, but it is a smaller sample than the book's norm.C · Minnesota Wild
Seventy-nine points at 34, undrafted, the 13th-least ground covered of 365 forwards — and 39.7 per cent of the chances away from Kaprizov.
How they were used
2021-22 · 82 games
Measured from shift charts at five-on-five, not projected. Units are built from the strongest partnership outward and ordered by how much they were used; the percentage is the share of the first player’s five-on-five ice time spent alongside each linemate. A low number means the club never settled on a combination. Players who have gone are marked — either to another club, or off an NHL roster altogether, which covers retirement and an unsigned summer alike.
Forwards
First line
Second line
Third line
Fourth line
Defence
First pair
Second pair
Third pair
Goaltending
By games played